Description

This program explores Ecuador's cultural richness and its current realities and conditions. Students focus on language, culture, politics, history, identity, and the challenges of implementing the country’s innovative and highly inclusive new constitution.

Advance your Spanish
The program places a major emphasis on language learning. Students can make rapid advancement in their Spanish skills through the program’s highly intensive classroom study, homestays, and fieldwork.

Experience Ecuador's three ecologic zones: Andean highlands, tropical rainforest, and coastal lowlands
Traveling from 10,000 feet down to sea level, students are exposed to Ecuador’s extraordinary ecological diversity. During periods of excursion, students meet with indigenous representatives and leaders of grassroots organizations who discuss threats to Ecuador's ecology and present alternative strategies of development. Learn more about the program's excursions.

Interact with Ecuadorian leaders who have dedicated their lives to promoting change
Students learn from activists who are committed to supporting minority rights, fighting discrimination, protecting the environment, and creating sustainable living alternatives. Ecuador is currently in the process of significant political and economic transition: students witness the ways in which the increased participation of indigenous organizations and other formerly excluded minorities is paving the way toward a more inclusive and representative democracy.

Lecturers are drawn from institutions such as Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO), Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar, and Universidad Politécnica Salesiana.

Share daily life with Ecuadorian host families
In sharing daily life with families of diverse socioeconomic levels, students experience the contrasting variables among Ecuadorians and discover the impact their physical environment has on food, daily activities, and even language. Learn more about the program’s homestays.

Connect with a range of Ecuadorian partners
Students typically have the chance to engage with the program's partner organizations including:

•Fundación Equidad - supports Ecuador’s GLBTI population
•Fundación de Acción Comunitaria (FACES) - provides innovative outreach to children and adults with disabilities
•La Pastoral Migratoria - works with Colombian refugees
•Defensa y Conservación de Intag (DECOIN) - grassroots organization which works against extractive industries and promotes community development

Highlights

Four weeks homestay in the tranquil Los Chillos Valley, near Quito, and four weeks in Urban Quito. Educational excursions to the Ecuadorian Amazon, Guayaquil and coastal Ecuador, and the Andean cloud forest.

Degree Level

Bachelors Degree (Undergraduate)

Subject Areas

Cost in US$:

contact sponsor

Experience Required

yes

three recent semesters of college-level Spanish or equivalent and the ability to follow courseweork in Spanish, as assessed by SIT.

This Program is open to

American and Worldwide Participants.

Typical Living Arrangements

• Home-stays

Scholarships are Available

Application Process Involves

• Essay
• Physical Exam/Health Records
• Letters of Reference
• Written Application

Typically The Application Process Time is

3 weeks

Post Services Include

• Alumni Network
• Exit Debriefing Abroad
• Job and Internship Network

SIT Study Abroad's Mission Statement

A pioneer in experiential, field-based study abroad, SIT offers semester, summer, and academic year programs for undergraduate students in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East, as well as comparative programs in multiple locations.

Programs focus on critical global issues in specific geographical and cultural contexts using an interdisciplinary approach. Studying with host country faculty and living with families, students gain a deep appreciation for local cultures and become immersed in diverse topics ranging from the politics of identity to post-conflict transformation, from global health to environmental policy. 

Year Founded

1932